Air India will be celebrating its merger with Indian Airlines as ‘Air India Day’ on Wednesday. On this occasion, the national carrier is offering tickets at Rs 100 excluding taxes.﻿ for a limited offer﻿. As per a statement by an official spokesperson of the airlines, this is the first time that they will be celebrating this day. He also said that a function will be held on 27 August to celebrate the occasion.

27-Aug-2014Politics

Advani out of the top positions in BJP

BJP veteran leader Lal Krishan Advani has been relieved from the key positions in the BJP which he has held since the inception of the party. Like Advani, names of other senior leaders like Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Murli Manohar Joshi were excluded from the list of the parliamentary board of the BJP. The board headed by Amit Shah, has included the names of Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and general secretary﻿ JP Nadda. Narendra Modi and Rajnath Singh are also included in the parliamentary board.

27-Aug-2014Business

EPFO to offer 8.75 percent interest in fiscal year 2014-2015

The Employee Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) will retain the interest amount on deposits of provident fund at 8.75 percent for the fiscal year 2014-2015. K K Jalan, Central Provident Fund Commissioner (CPFC), confirmed the interest rate for 2014-2015. As per media reports, the decision to retain the interest rate was kept the same despite the protests from the union members of the Central Board of Trustees (CBT). The final notification for the same will be issued by the Finance Ministry later in the year.

27-Aug-2014Politics

Ministers with criminal background: SC throws the ball in PM's court

The Supreme Court has said that though there is no restriction on the Prime Minister to choose a person to be a minister, but as he has the responsibility of being a custodian of the constitutional trust, he should not appoint any unwarranted person as minister. The Constitution bench of the apex court has said that no changes regarding disqualification can be made in the Article (75) which authorises the PM to select any person as a minister. It says that a person who is in conflict with the law should not be given any executive responsibilities.

27-Aug-2014Others

Lakhs of people affected in Assam floods

As per media reports, lakhs of people have been affected in around 16 districts of Assam due to floods. The authorities have said that many rivers including the Brahmaputra and its tributaries are flowing above the danger level. As per the State Disaster Management Authority (SDMA), 12,65,449 people have been affected due to floods in the districts of Lakhimpur and Morigaon. It is also reported that 1,63,052 people have taken shelter in around 212 relief camps which are set up by the administration.

27-Aug-2014Others

First batch of Haj pilgrims departs from Kashmir

The first lot of pilgrims for Haj 2014 has left from Srinagar by a direct flight to Madina in Saudi Arabia. 275 pilgrims took the flight from the Srinagar International Airport for Haj destination. As per reports, 7,007 pilgrims from Jammu and Kashmir are registered and scheduled to visit the holy Muslim pilgrimage through the quota of the state government. It is also reported that 300 are expected to have booked their visit through private tour and travel operators. Every day two flights are likely to carry the pilgrims from Jammu and Kashmir to Madina till mid-September.

27-Aug-2014Sports

Saina Nehwal reaches the third round of World Badminton Championship

Saina Nehwal has reached the third round of the World Badminton Championship. She has defeated Russia’s Natalia Perminova in women’s singles held in Copenhagen. She took only 31 minutes to win over Perminova 21-11 21-9. In men’s single, Ajay Jayaram has also moved to the second round after defeating Japan’s Kenichi Tago. However, Commonwealth gold medalist Parupalli Kashyap witnessed a defeat by Germany’s Dieter Domke.

27-Aug-2014Entertainment

Rani Mukherjee wants re-certification of 'Mardaani'

Actress Rani Mukherjee’s recent release “Mardaani’ earned Rs 15 crore in the opening weekend despite having an A-certificate. As per reports, in Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh, the movie has been made tax free. However, Rani wants that the children above the age of 12 years should watch the film based on female trafficking. The actress said that she feels sad and disappointed and is campaigning for a new category so that the children below the age of 12 years can watch her film.

27-Aug-2014Others

NHRC sends notice to Odisha government over expired medicines

The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) is seeking a report from the government of Odisha on the low-quality and time-expired medicines which are administered in the state. The commission has asked the principal secretary of the health ministry to submit a report. The decision came in response to the petition filed by Odisha’s human rights campaigner Akhand.

27-Aug-2014Science and Technology

Xiaomi to launch its new handset and service centres in major cities soon

After the success of its Mi3, Xiaomi has announced to launch another smartphone, Redmi 1S in India soon. It will have a 4.7-inch screen with a 1.6 GHz Sanpdragon 400 quad-core processor. Redmi 1S will be priced at Rs. 5,999. The announcement was made during the launch event at Delhi where the Global VP of Xiaomi, Hugo Barra was also present. As per reports, Xiaomi also plans to set up its service centres at Hyderabad, Mumbai, Chennai and Gurgaon.